Cold (Harpvor fic)
by LeopardHeart104
Summary: Ivor sets back out to the Portal Network to look for a certain someone, but what he find is not what he expects. (WARNING: May contain themes of self-loathing and possible suicide. Read at your own risk)


**WARNING: Contains themes of self-loathing and possible suicide. Read at your own risk**

**Also, apologies for the lack if activity on here and tumblr. It's been a rough week. I'll try to update Aftermath soon after I post this for those of you following that story.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Ivor took a deep breath in and let it out as he looked over the seemingly endless hallway of portals in front of him. The magical mist inside of the portal frames covered the ground in front of them with glows of different colors. The ceiling was difficult to see, due to its height and the darkness of the hall. After a few more moments of examining the some-what familiar place of wonders, Ivor glanced down at the objects he held in each of his hands. In his left hand, a pair a flint and steel that glowed a vibrant blue, pulsing softly in his palm. In his right, the Atlas, a blue book with a few yellow stripes crossing the cover, gold glowing symbols hovering around it. Shaking his head, Ivor glanced up at the vast hallway once more.

He wasn't exactly sure why he had come back to here. He, Jesse, Petra, and Lukas had just gotten back from the Portal Network after overthrowing the Old Builders and their "games". Ivor thought that the moment he stepped through the oak wood portal leading back home, he would never step foot there again.

Yet, here he was.

Though Ivor would never admit it to anyone, not even himself, there was something that was calling him back. A very, very strong tugging in his heart was trying to get him somewhere. To someone. And he knew exactly who.

_Harper, Harper, Harper._

Harper.

She hadn't left Ivor's mind since they had parted. Her name constantly in his thoughts and his heart. Frankly, she hadn't been able to stay out of his head since he had first _met_ her. Ivor couldn't stop the continuous instances of her popping into his head. When he and Jesse had met her after she led them away from PAMA hive-mind, the first thought he had was just how... intriguing she was. He was mystified by the vague answers that she would give whenever Ivor or Jesse asked her a question. He knew that Jesse found it slightly annoying, and he was willing to bet Petra and Lukas did too, but Ivor found the trait interesting no less. When Harper had been captured by PAMA's forces, Ivor hadn't expected the pain that took hold of his heart, feeling as though dozens of spiders were biting him at once, their venom poisoning his veins. He couldn't imagine another time when he had felt that feeling so sharp, so quickly, especially for someone he had just met. While he had been looking about Harper's lab, he had found journals consisting of writings from her while she was on the run from PAMA, about the time she spent all alone, thinking of hopeless ways to somehow shut down PAMA and trying to survive in the mines of a desert. For every word that Ivor had continued to read from her entries, he had felt his heart break a little more. He couldn't even begin to imagine how hard it must have been to survive on her own, especially in a desert, which barely had any wildlife or plants or water to begin with, when she was on the run from her own creation.

And, that was another thing. The whole creating-a-giant-computer-that-took-control-of-the-world thing. Ivor could relate to that. But, his mistake had been a bit more . . . destructive. He still couldn't think about the Witherstorm without wincing to himself. Ivor could recognize the intense guilt that she felt whenever she talked about PAMA. He didn't want her to feel that way. He wanted to see her smile everyday. He didn't want her to feel the pain of what she had done. It hadn't even been her fault that PAMA went haywire. It simply got too smart to handle, that was all. Ivor remembered with a hint of anger the confrontation between the victims of PAMA, Crown Mesa's citizens, and Harper. He remembered how much he wanted to march to the front of the crowd and defend her with such a passion that it would blow them off their feet. Ivor was grateful that Jesse saw that Harper was innocent and defended her instead, being more convincing than Ivor probably would have been, seeing as though he was the desert town's savior. But even though Ivor knew his argument would have been a bit biased, he wanted to tell them off so badly that it made his hands clutch the items within them tightly. Ivor forced his trembling fingers to loosen their grip on the Atlas and the flint and steel. He took a deep breath. It was in the past now, so it didn't matter. Harper would be there. The citizens of Crown Mesa would be reluctantly accepting her help and her place back in the community, probably because of Jesse's wishes and the severe rebuilding that the town would need. She would be there, and Ivor's heart leapt at the thought of seeing her face again.

He quickly pocketed the flint and steel for later and opened the atlas. It's pages flowed a dim gold as symbols hovered around it.

"Take me to Harper," Ivor told it softly. His heart began to pound loudly as he spoke her name.

Almost immediately, a thin, gold, glowing tower raised out of the book and began to make its way down the hallway. Ivor expected the spire to go straight into the red portal leading to Crown Mesa, which was only a few feet away from the line of light.

But instead, it went straight past it without stopping.

Confused, Ivor ran after the spire, halting abruptly as it went straight into a portal five or six portals away from Crown Mesa's. As Ivor observed the portal the spire had landed upon, he felt a chill of dread run down his spine as he recognized the portal's frame and the details around it.

The Ice Lakes.

It was one of the portals that he and the others had gone through when finding their way through the network. Ivor could remember the bitter cold that threatened to freeze them completely when they had traveled through the world.

The blizzard they had unfortunately experienced and the fact that the exit portal was in the middle of a lake surrounded by icebergs didn't help either.

But, why would Harper be here? Was the Atlas mistaken. No . . . When Jesse had told the Atlas to take them home, it found their portal without hesitation. It couldn't be wrong.

Ivor felt a strong pang of fear as he wondered how Harper was surviving in the bitter cold dimension. For a long time, Harper had been living in a barren desert, and Ivor guessed she might not have ever experienced snow. How would she be able to withstand the low temperature? What if she got lost in a blizzard? What if she fell through the ice while walking across the frozen water of an ice lake. Feeling completely panicked, Ivor quicky shot through the neon blue portal with the Atlas in his hand.

Ivor let out a small yelp as he fell into a pile of knee deep snow, but it was quickly silenced by the howling of a strong, freezing gust of wind. Ivor lifted his head and felt his heart sink as he observed the whirling snow around him. There was a blizzard going on, and it definitely made Ivor instantly wish that he had worn something a bit warmer. But he couldn't think about that now. He had to find Harper.

Ivor quickly put himself back up on his feet. His eyes darted around, trying to spot flash of brownish-yellow in the midst of the snowstorm, but everything farther than a few feet in front of him was completely white.

"Harper!?" Ivor tried to raise his voice against the howling wind, but his call was immediately whipped away by another strong gust. He forced himself to not stand frozen in place and began to slowly walk forward, calling for Harper over and over again. He felt the fear that was only giving a slight tug on his heart before now clutching it with a fierce intensity. As Ivor continued to walk about for about half an hour, he felt his hopes slowly deflating.

But suddenly, he spotted something far ahead in front of him. A large lump on the ground that was definitely not another pile of snow. Ivors slow walk hastily changed into a run until he stopped in front of the lump, staring down at it with his mouth slightly agape.

Because on the ground before him was Harper, curled into a small ball and shivering against the snow.

* * *

Harper felt cold.

Every part of her was cold.

Her head, her arms, her hands, her legs, everything was freezing.

She didn't know when it would stop, if it would ever stop.

She just wanted to go back home.

But, she couldn't.

Because it wasn't home anymore.

She didn't have a home anymore.

She had nowhere to go.

The only thing she could do was let the cold sleep underneath her skin and into her blood, freezing everything until her heart stopped beating.

Maybe it would be easier that way . . . to just let herself go.

Better to let karma catch up to her.

It's not like she deserved to live anyway.

Suddenly, she felt a sudden blaze of warmth on one side of her and a blue glow shine through her eyelids, which were shut and freezing as well. Harper felt someone shake her and heard a frantic voice talking to her, urging her to wake up, pleading for her to say something. Harper tried to move, but couldn't. She tried to open her mouth to speak but no words were spoken and her mouth didn't move. She heard the person began to quietly sob as they begged her to get up. Their voice sounded so desperate that it, and the warmth on one of her sides, gave Harper the strength the crack her eyelids open slightly. Her vision was blurred, but she could make out the blue glow from a fire that was . . . Blue? Harper wasn't conscious enough to dwell on it too much. She lifted her head slightly as she began to slowly regain some strength. Someone, presumably the person that was trying to wake her up a few moments before, was staring down at her with relief in their dark blue eyes. After blinking a few times, Harper felt a small feeling a shock rush through her as she recognized who that "someone" was.

". . . Ivor?"

The bearded man let out a sigh with relief clear in his tone, "Thank Notch," he said softly before turning his attention back to Harper again, "don't worry, Harper. You're alright. You're going to be okay."

Harper tried to open her eyes a bit wider and attempted to sit herself upright, with little to no success. Ivor quickly lifted her up before she hit the floor. Harper let her head collapse against his chest as her shaking body slumped against his. She felt him stiffen with surprise and something else that Harper couldn't decipher, but he slowly relaxed and put a hand on Harpers back. She let herself close her eyes once again, not worrying about how she was practically _snuggling_ against him due to her lack of consciousness. Though she was conscious enough to wonder why Ivor would just so happened to be here, in a world that certainly no person would go to willingly. Harper was just about to ask him the question when the rim of a bottle was pressed up against her lips. A sweet-tasting liquid spilled into her mouth and down her throat, warming up her freezing limbs. As she swallowed the last of the drink, Harper brought her head up from Ivor's chest, a bit hastily, now that she had the strength. She felt a bit of blood rush to her cheeks as she regained full consciousness. Ivor's cheeks turned a similar color as their eyes locked, and he gave a small awkward cough into one of his hands.

"I, uh, gave you a healing potion," he told her, a bit of a nervous hint to his tone, "I… hope you're feeling alright, now."

"I am… Thank you." Harper's cheeks flushed a bit darker as she glanced away, until her curious thought from before entered her mind once again, encouraging her to turn her eyes back to Ivor again despite her pink cheeks, "Wait… Ivor, what are you doing here? How did you find me?"

Ivor's face suddenly, rapidly turned crimson at her first question, his hand going up to his neck to nervously and awkwardly rub it, "W-Well, I… I-It's a bit of a long story… A-And, well… I-I might have… borrowed a couple things to find you."

Ivor nervously gestured to the space next to them on the stone floor. Harper's eyes slowly slid over to where he was hinting at, and her eyes widened as two familiar items came into her sight.

The flint and steel and the Atlas.

It made sense to Harper that he had the flint and steel, since the fire he had started was a light blue instead a fiery orange and yellow. But, the atlas? Harper was shocked to find it with Ivor. Why did he take them? Did the others even know that he had it?

"I-I hope you're not too u-upset with me," Ivor stammered as he watched Harper examine the magical items, "I-I'm sure Jesse doesn't mind-"

"Ivor… You didn't answer my first question."

Ivor blinked, Harper brown eyes looking into his dark blue ones curiously, her sudden cut-off to his words making the pale man's face a dark red color , droplets of sweat forming on his forehead as he tried to think of an excuse, "I-I-I was just… I-I w-was only…"

A theory popped into Harper's mind as Ivor struggled to stutter out a clear, cohesive answer, though her particular theory made her quite red as well. She forced the blush down and finally managed to ask her lingering question.

"Ivor… Were you looking for me?"

Ivor froze as she spoke the words, his mouth opening and closing a few times, his face now ten times darker than it had been just moments before, if that was even possible. He mouth stayed shut however, his silence answering Harper's question as he kept on nervously glancing away from her face, unable to make eye contact with her for more than a moment. Harper felt her face burning and a rather awkward silence passed between the two before Ivor finally spoke up quietly, "I-I-I m-might h-have…"

"B-But… Why though?" Along with being quite flustered, Harper also felt very confused, confused about why Ivor would want to find her, "Why would you want to look for me? It's not like I've been the best person to be around."

Ivor stopped glancing away and looked at Harper with a confused expression of his own, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I caused an entire world to be enslaved," Harper said in a self-spiting, sour tone, "and I wasn't the most helpful person to you and the others."

"What? What are you talking about?" Ivor asked, utterly confused, "If it weren't for you, we would have never found out how to get back to our home world."

"And if it weren't for me, you would have never gotten trapped in the games either," Harper retorted, "Or gotten mixed up in the whole mess with PAMA."

"But you helped us get out of them."

"After I got you trapped in them."

"Why are you doubting yourself?" Ivor asked her, concern and a bit of anger glinting in his eyes, "Are the townspeople giving you trouble again? Is that why you're here? I could get Jesse to talk to them again-"

"They didn't send me here… But they did send me away," Harper's face darkened with guilt as she remembered how she'd come to Crown Mesa and first seen almost all of the townspeople at the entrance. She remembered the hostile faces of every person she'd lived with for years, now threatening her with death if she'd ever step foot there again. Harper hadn't questioned it. She'd gone like they demanded, she knew that it was what she deserved, after all.

Ivor's jaw clenched a bit into an angry scowl and Harper could see his fists tightening and trembling a bit, "I knew it. Why couldn't they just-"

"Please don't be angry at them," Harper begged him desperately, before looking down at her lap, her hands balled up into fists as she stared down at them, her eyes dark, "I know that it's what I deserve."

Ivor snapped out of his angry daze and he blinked at her statement, "Harper, you don't-"

"But I do," Harper cut him off, turning away from him so that he couldn't see the small tears beginning to prick at the corners of her eyes, threatening to spill as she tried to keep her voice from shaking, "Can't you see that I don't deserve to have anything anymore? Why can't you see that? Maybe…" Harper trailed off, before continuing again in a slight whisper, "Maybe I should've just froze to death out there, alone."

Harper heard no response from Ivor, nor could she see his face since she turned her body away from him. After a few moments of silence, Harper tensed a bit as she felt Ivor's arms encircle around her waist, pulling her close to him until her back was pressed against his chest. Harper felt the slight blush rise to her cheeks again as held her tightly, but she began to relax and sink into his embrace, resting her head back against his chest. They stayed in their embrace for a small while, both of them silent during this time. After a minute or two, Ivor whispered hoarsely to her, his voice on the brink of trembling, "You don't deserve to die, Harper. Not at all…"

Harper didn't immediately respond to his words, too shocked by his actions. After a few more moments of silence, she spoke softly, "But, Ivor… I…"

She trailed off, but before she could continue, Harper felt Ivor lightly grip her shoulders and rotate her around so that she was facing him. She looked up at him with her eyes slightly wider than usual as she spotted small tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. She was shocked and surprised by the intense look in his eyes that Harper couldn't recognize, "I-Ivor-?"

Ivor cut her off as he suddenly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him once again. Harper felt his warm breath on her neck as she heard him whisper so softly that she almost couldn't hear him, "I… I love you."

Harper froze in his arms at his statement, not knowing what to say as he held her tightly in his arms. After a few moments, he seemed to notice her silence and he quickly pulled himself away from her, his face going scarlet as his fingers rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He kept glancing away from Harper's face, unable to keep eye contact with her as he stuttered out, "S-Sorry, I-I… I-I don't… I-I didn't mean to-"

Ivor anxious apology ended in a startled yelp that was quickly muffled as Harper suddenly grabbed the collar of his golden-green robe with both of her hands and yanked him towards her, firmly pressing her mouth to his and locking their lips together. Ivor tensed instantly and his eyes widened in complete shock, not sure of what to do as Harper kept them locked in their sudden kiss. After a few more moments of hesitation, Ivor slowly closed his eyes and began to kiss back, his arms slowly wrapping around her again as Harper moved her hands from his collar to the sides of his face. She slid one of her hands from the side of Ivor's face to the back of his head to deepen their kiss. At that moment in time, both of them were completely entranced by the other, not being able to pay attention to anything else. After a minute of their kiss, they both reluctantly pulled away from each other to regain the oxygen they had lost. They both breathed heavily as they gazed into each other's eyes lovingly, their chests pressing against each other as they held each other in their arms.

Both of them were too breathless to say anything. But they didn't need to. Everything they wanted to say was said through their eyes, and their eyes alone. But, after several long moments staring into each other's eyes, Harper wrapped her arms around Ivor's neck and snuggled her face into his chest, whispering softly to him, "I love you too, Ivor."

Ivor's heart soared until it felt as though it were pounding out of his chest. He was unable to stop a goofy smile from staining his face, keeping one arm wrapped around Harper while he used his other to lightly stroke Harper's silvery-white hair. They both sat there in a warm, affectionate silence as they listened to the roaring blizzard outside, waiting for it to pass so that the two new lovers could be on their way.


End file.
